Thursday, September 16, 2010

CT Homeschool Mother Takes Children To Hayes Trial

The Hayes trial, of course is the prosecution of Steven Hayes for his (alleged) part in the brutal murder of Dr. William Petit's wife and children in Cheshire in 2007.

It is most interesting to me that the media has fixated on this homeschool parent as a story.

I have known many homeschoolers who have taken their kids to courtrooms, participated in mock trial, and have openly discussed many aspects of real life with their young kids.

In the same breath, critics of homeschooling are apt to say that homeschoolers are shielded from the real world.. now with this media piece they are saying that they are harshly presented with the real world. So which is it?

Bravo to this homeschool mom who has taken her kids to a courtroom, that is open to the public, for a very important civics lesson.

Horrific crime?Of course.

But it's not like she hasn't prepared them for it.She obviously has.

Judging by her child's response to reporters, it looks like they are prepared to go into a courtroom. It is unlikely they will see the entire trial, but it is apparent that they have been doing a lot of talking about this case beforehand. Seven year old Shreyoshi Ghoshray wants to be a lawyer someday. I'd say she has an excellent start.

This is precisely why homeschoolers out perform their peers.They aren't dumbed down and treated like they cannot handle life.They are taught meaningful lessons about life and society by people who really know them the best. Rest assured homeschool parents know what their kids can and cannot deal with.

What did most seven year olds do today in government school?Probably learned about sex and drugs and how to use swear words, or how to parrot back whatever the teacher tells them.

3 comments:

There is an odd blend of sheltering done by public schools yet other times they over-expose kids to things and say they need to know what is out there so sometimes they corrupt a child's innocence. The core issue is that schools think they know more than parents and they want to be the ones to decide what a child is exposed to.

Perhaps every schooled student should have a field trip to some sort of real court case at least once in their 13 years of public school education. But as of now that is just not done.

In this case I have to disagree. This trial is detailing extremely horrible and graphic events. I do not believe that a 6 or 7 year old is ready to hear a first hand eye-witness account for how the bodies of this mother and her two beautiful young children were raped, tied to their beds, had fuel poured on their bodies and then set aflame. On the day those children came photos of the burnt victims were passed to the jury and other members of the media. What if one of those children had stolen a glimpse?This is something most adults would not be able to stand.

I am not saying that children should be sheltered and not be able to watch the news but this topic is much too horrific for a child to hear about first hand.

This woman's child wants to be a lawyer and be on the Supreme Court? I think that is terrific. Take them to another trial; perhaps one that won't risk giving them nightmares for years to come.

Also, I am not trying to say that I know this woman's own children better than she does. Hopefully they will have nothing but positive impact from this trip. But this subject matter is absolutely much too sensitive.

Both my parents, an Aunt and an Uncle all worked in criminal court. My siblings and I often stopped by after school and watched case. I remember some sick days where I wasn't to sick where I went to work with my parents. I learned a lot about the criminal system. I was also very aware that there were consequences for actions beyond my parents. I think it is a good lesson. As for the horror of it, we all see it not just on tv shows but in the news. Best to see it in it's rightful arena, not distorted on tv and in the news.

Jonathan Libertarian Seagull

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